COP29: Azerbaijan wants fossil fuels to fund climate adaptation

The COP29 presidency has announced what it aims to achieve at the next climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, including a climate finance fund financed by fossil fuels and several initiatives round clean energy and climate resilience.

The conference’s flagship goal is to create a Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF) made up of voluntary contributions from countries and companies producing fossil fuels to finance climate mitigation, adaptation, research and development – and fund rapid responses to natural disasters in climate-vulnerable countries.

In terms of energy, the ‘Action Agenda’ also includes: a pledge to create “green energy zones and corridors” with targets to promote investment, develop, modernise and expand infrastructure and foster regional cooperation; a ‘Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge’ to increase global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, and enhance energy grids; and a public-private hydrogen declaration to address regulatory, technological, financing, and standardisation barriers to hydrogen development.

Azerbaijan – a major oil and gas producer – was criticised in January for appointing a fossil fuel sector veteran, Mukhtar Babayev, as COP29 President-Designate. Climate organisations and sustainability leaders have repeatedly denounced the dominant presence of oil and gas representatives at climate change conferences, which they argue is preventing more ambitious agreements on the phase-out of fossil fuels. 

Last year’s COP28 was also presided by an oil and gas figure and ended in an agreement to “transition away” from (but not phase out) fossil fuels.

Now, Azerbaijan’s energy agenda for COP has also been met with scepticism: ​​Andreas Sieber, Associate Director of Policy and Campaigns at 350.org, an NGO seeking a phase-out of fossil fuels, said: “[The] COP29 [presidency] announces 14 initiatives for COP29: 1 mention of fossil fuels (as part of a greenwashing fund), 0 mentions of energy transition, 0 mentions renewables. When is Azerbaijan starting to show leadership on NDCs [nationally determined contributions] and the energy transition?” 

Activists point to hypocrisy of ‘COP Truce’ idea

The COP29 ‘Action Agenda’ was published today on the presidency’s website and in a letter addressed to all COP29 stakeholders, where President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev warned that Azerbaijan is “just one country” that “cannot solve the climate crisis alone”.

 “We seek to inspire every actor and demonstrate what is possible with commitment and determination, and we never underestimate the value of an individual contribution. We hope to remind everyone that even in the face of such an enormous challenge, every action matters because every fraction of a degree matters.”

Among other goals for the summit, Azerbaijan’s appeal to create a COP Truce modelled on the Olympic Truce, whereby countries would put down their weapons for the duration of the conference, has led to backlash by peace activists who point to the country’s poor human rights record. 

Paul Polman, former Unilever CEO and now a climate activist and peace campaigner, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Instead of cynical PR stunts, President [Ilhan] Aliyev [of Azerbaijan] should commit to decarbonising Azerbaijan’s fossil fuel economy and release the more than 300 political prisoners he is detaining before COP29 begins.”

COP29: climate resilience, agriculture and tourism

Other goals for the climate change conference include:

•  a climate finance, investment and trade initiative, a declaration to accelerate climate-positive digitisation and emission reductions; 
• an initiative on human development for climate resilience (including investment in education, skills, health, and wellbeing); 
• a climate initiative for farmers to facilitate collaboration on agriculture; 
• a declaration to work towards 1.5-aligned waste sector methane reduction commitments
• a multisectoral declaration to address climate challenges in cities;
• a declaration to include tourism climate targets in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs);
• a declaration on water for climate action
• a climate transparency platform to support developing countries in the preparation and submission of their Biennial Transparency Report

The COP29 Presidency will share draft texts of all these declarations and pledges with all parties for their review and feedback ahead of the conference, which is taking place from November 12 to 22 in Baku.